Category: Devotional

Devotional thoughts for my benefit and yours from here, there, and everywhere

Strengthening Wimps: The Importance of Pastors and Churches

~ fundyreformed

The following quote grabbed my attention. I’m not sure you will find it in the online manuscript of Pastor John Piper’s message from yesterday. But you can hear it in the audio or video for sure.

I’m in the business of putting fiber in the backbone of wimps.

— John Piper

The context of that statement was yesterday’s sermon on marriage. And a big point from that sermon was that marriage is not just about love, it is about covenant keeping. When love is not there, we are still to keep covenant. It was a great message, and it will be concluded next week. I would encourage you to check Desiring God’s website today as the message will soon be available to read, watch, or hear. But I want to bring out a wider application from that quote.

This quote by Piper is a good summary of a pastor’s job description. Of course the “fiber” and the imparted strength flow not from the pastor’s ability to motivate nor from his “strong leadership”. It is not imparted on the basis of his masculine grit and determination. It comes from his faithful, careful teaching and preaching of the Scriptures. And it comes through the supernatual ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Everyone is, in one sense or another, a wimp. And we need strengthening. So we as people need to submit ourselves to local churches, which are communities of believers pledging to fight “the good fight of faith” together. Fellow believers will be able to lift up the hands that tend to fall down and encourage those who need help, see 1 Thess. 5:11-14 and this related post.

We also need leaders to watch over and care for our souls, see Heb. 13:7, 17. We need pastors to equip us for the ministry, see Eph. 4:11-14. We need to hear the Word of God preached so that we are built up and made strong, see Acts 20:32, Rom. 15:4.

So my simple yet important aim in this post is to remind us that we need fellow believers as well as church pastors and leaders to help us be strong. And it goes without saying that we have a need for strengthening.

So let us not just drift along with the tide. Rather let us be aware of our weakness, and take advantage of the God-ordained means to strengthen ourselves through interaction with the body of Christ—His people. Then, with the help of our fellow-believers, and with the encouragement of the Scriptures, and also by the strengthening of the Spirit, we will be able to obey the following instructions:

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

— 1 Cor. 16:13

May God strengthen us all and infuse “fiber” into our “backbone”!

Like Hearts

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

Just a quick post here. This week in an exchange of emails with one of my readers, a phrase was brought up that has stuck with me. The gentleman mentioned that so many people strive for “like-mindedness” but what is most important is “like-heartedness“.

I tend to agree. Certainly if we are like-minded we can have more cooperation and greater fellowship, with each other. But there are many issues about which we will never be totally like-minded with anyone! But we can be like-hearted.

We can agree to hold to different positions on lesser issues and yet still acknowledge that we share a similar heartbeat. And if our hearts are pointed in the same direction, we should be able to have meaningful fellowship, even if our heads get in the way at times.

Since starting this blog, I have encountered many different people. And I have found that even when I differ with some on mind-issues, I can appreciate that their heart is pointed in the right direction. Early on I found that I needed to tone down my posts and acknowledge that there are many fundamentalists who are like-hearted with me. And many from even the more “hyper” circles have right hearts.

Scripture asks us and demands us to maintain the unity of the Spirit with fellow believers. We should yearn for such unity and look for the good hearts in people, even when our minds might be contradictory. Hopefully as fellowship continues a greater like-mindedness will develop. But ultimately it isn’t important if you agree with me, or if I approve of your distinct positions on any number of issues. What matters is that God approves of our hearts, and that we don’t disown and malign fellow believers.

By all means stand for truth. And defend your positions. (You know I will!) But please listen for the heart of those whom you may be quick to condemn. Let us all  strive for like-heartedness! [Oh, and take a moment and look up the verses supporting my motto  in the top right sidebar]

“Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce” by John Piper

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

I have finished Piper’s little book Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce. It was excellent! You should look into getting some for evangelistic reasons, as people will be interested when you tell them that this is the 200th anniversary of the banning of the slave trade (by Britain).

The last two chapters were most captivating, as they looked into Wilberforce’s contagious Christian joy and his beliefs on the importance of doctrine. Again, the book is available to read for free online, and it would be well worth your time.

I would like to provide some excerpts here as I can’t help but spread some wisdom from Wilberforce.

My grand objection to the religious system still held by many who declare themselves orthodox Churchmen…is, that it tends to render Christianity so much a system of prohibitions rather than of privilege and hopes, and thus the injunction to rejoice, so strongly enforced in the New Testament, is practically neglected, and Religion is made to wear a forbidding and gloomy air and not one of peace and hope and joy. [Wilberforce in response to someone expressing their mistrust of joy. (pg. 62 in Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce, by Piper)]

A Prayer during a season of darkness, when he was fighting for joy:

Lord, thou knowest that no strength, wisdom or contrivance of human power can signify, or relieve me. It is thy power alone to deliver me. I fly to thee for succor and support, O Lord let it come speedily; give me full proof of thy Almighty power; I am in great troubles, insurmountable by me; but to thee slight and inconsiderable; look upon me O Lord with compassion and mercy, and restore me to rest, quietness, and comfort, in the world, or in another by removing me hence into a state of peace and happiness. Amen. [pg. 64]

Pleasure and Religion are contradictory terms with the bulk of nominal Christians. [pg. 64]

[It is a] “fatal habit to consider Christian morals as distinct from Christian doctrines.” [pg. 72]

From Piper’s conclusion to the book:

Is it not remarkable that one of the greatest politicians of Britain and one of the most persevering public warriors for social justice should elevate doctrine so highly? Perhaps this is why the impact of the church today is as weak as it is. Those who are most passionate about being practical for the public good are often the least doctrinally interested or informed. Wilberforce would say: You can’t endure in bearing fruit if you sever the root.

…Wilberforce lived off the “great doctrines of the gospel,”….This is where he fed his joy….The joy of the Lord became his strength (Neh. 8:10). And in this strength he pressed on in the cause of abolishing the slave trade until he had the victory.

Therefore, in all our zeal today for racial harmony, or the sanctity of human life, or the building of a moral culture, let us not forget these lessons: Never minimize the central place of God-centered, Christ-exalting doctrine; labor to be indomitably joyful in all that God is for us in Christ by trusting his great finished work; and never be idle in doing good—that men may see our good deeds and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16).

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com or direct from Crossway.

Amazing Grace and Martin Luther King Jr. Day

~ Bob Hayton

Many Christians, especially strongly conservative Christians, begrudge the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I know I did (at one time). I, along  with others, lamented that President’s Day or the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington were not given as much press and esteem as MLK Day. And I bought into  rumors concerning the underhanded tactics of King, as a way to discount any reflection on his life. And  I learned little of his life or his cause in the Christian education I received growing up.

My freshman year at college, however,  when we had two freshman black male students (which was much more than normal for our fundamentalist institution), the typical disdain for MLK Day did not go over very well. They were alarmed and incensed that us “white boys” could not or would not esteem MLK. Of course none of us white boys owned up to any degree of racist tendencies in ourselves either. We treated everyone the same, we thought, and since we were white, we never felt the truth to be otherwise.

Since leaving fundamentalist circles, I have come to appreciate the issue of racial harmony and racial justice much more. This is in large part to our church which takes a stand for racial harmony, and our pastor (John Piper) who preaches one or two messages on the topic each year around MLK day. You see, it is easy for me, a “white boy”, to go through many days without thinking of the issue at all. But for blacks, in countless  though often subtle ways, they are reminded of the issue day in and day out.

This post is not going to explore the issue any more than this. If you’d like to do so, check out the list of sermons and articles on the topic available at Desiring God. Instead this post wants to highlight a less well known hero in the matter of racial justice: William Wilberforce.

Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce by John Piper -- Click to orderWilliam Wilberforce was the man most responsible for stopping slavery in Great Britain. As a member of Parliament, he fought 20 years to end the slave trade, and then another 26 years to make slavery itself illegal. This year, we are coming up on the 200th anniversary of the ending of the slave trade in Britain. Feb. 24th 2007 it will be 200 years. In honor of this milestone, a movie will be released in February entitled “Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story”. I have heard that it will be quite good and historically accurate. You can check out the movie’s website and trailer here.

John Newton, as you know, wrote that most famous of songs: “Amazing Grace”. But you may not know that at one time he was himself a captain of a slave trading ship. In fact he ended up becoming a white slave himself for a time. Newton was a friend of Wilberforce, and truly the outlawing of slavery is an act of amazing grace: hence the title for the movie.

With the day off today, I have been reading through a new book by John Piper on this very subject. It is entitled Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce. It  was timed to be available in conjunction with the movie’s release, and you can order a copy (or copies) here. You can even read it online here.

The book highlights the amazing life of Wilberforce. William was a truly evangelical Christian and he endured despite tremendous opposition for decades in his fight to end slavery precisely because he was Christian. In today’s world where Christianity is so despised, it is good to remember that the end of slavery is one of Christianity’s gifts to the world! Piper highlights what made Wilberforce tick, and the answer will surprise you. Wilberforce thought the “peculiar doctrines” of Christianity were essential for proper morals and public morality. He despised the divorcing of doctrine from Christian ethics which in his day was already becoming popular. And Wilberforce, as Piper would term it, was a Christian Hedonist. He prized the importance of a deep joy in God.

So on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, stop and ponder the issues of racial harmony in your own life. And pause and reflect on God’s wonderful grace in Wilberforce’s life. Again, the book is available online for free (as a pdf file). So when you have some time this week give it a read (it is short, only about 75 pages).

There's Still Time. Use the Bethlehem Bible Reading Plan.

~ fundyreformed

There is still time to use the Bethlehem Baptist Bible Reading Plan this year. My church (Bethlehem) has been using the Discipleship Journal plan for fifteen or more years now. And  we have come up with some great bookmarks with the plan on them. The bookmarks are free (see side one here and side two here) and would be a great help in reading through the Bible this year.

The plan is unique in that it has you reading in 4 places each day, and also gives you only 25 assigned readings per month. This helps if you miss one or two  days, because you don’t have to feel like you’ll never be able to catch up. If you do the plan faithfully, you’ll have five or six days at the end of each month to do some personal study of your own.

If you have already begun another plan, it would be simple to switch to this one. The bookmarks are easy to print off and use. Also, let me encourage you to plan on memorizing verses this year. Bethlehem has a fighter memory verse plan which you could adapt as well.

May we all grow closer to God this year through diligent study of His Word!